Following the announcement of a nationwide vaccination programme for those between 15 and 18 years of age and third dose for a few categories, including health and frontline workers, the BMC will require about 25 lakh additional shots for the city, said officials. It plans to rope in junior colleges once it rolls out vaccination for Mumbai’s 9 lakh teenagers eligible for the doses.

The exact guidelines for the next phase of vaccination are yet to reach the BMC and they need clarity on many aspects, said officials. But the corporation has started gearing up to administer around 25 lakh additional doses. There are nearly 12 lakh senior citizens, 2.35 lakh front line workers and 1.9 lakh health workers who would be eligible for the ‘precaution’ dose, apart from the adolescent population of 9 lakh who will be getting the first dose. While the vaccination for the 15-18 category is scheduled to kick off from January 3, the ‘precaution’ dose will start on January 10.